US Chip Industry Has ‘Innovation Deficit’ Says SIA CEO

The US semiconductor industry is suffering from an ‘innovation deficit’ says the CEO of the SIA, Brian Toohey.

“One threat to the semiconductor market’s continued growth and America’s overall economic strength is the innovation deficit – the gap between needed and actual federal investments in research and higher education,” says Toohey, “policymakers should act swiftly to close the innovation deficit by committing to robust and sustained investments in basic scientific research and higher education.”

Toohey’s remarks come after the worldwide semiconductor industry had a record quarter with sales of $78.47 billion in Q1.

March sales were $26.16 billion. “Sales in March increased across all regions and every semiconductor product category compared to last year, demonstrating the and diverse strength,” says Toohey.

Regionally, year-to-year sales increased in the Americas (16.1 percent), Asia Pacific (12.9 percent), Europe (8 percent), and Japan (0.4 percent), marking the first time in more than three years that year-to-year sales increased across all regions. Sales were up compared to the previous month in Europe (3.9 percent), Asia Pacific (1.4 percent), and Japan (0.3 percent), but down slightly in the Americas (-4.3 percent).

“The global semiconductor market has demonstrated consistent momentum in recent months, and sales are well ahead of last year’s pace through the first quarter of 2014,” says Toohey.